Headshot of Leo Eguchi, Photo Credit: Justine Cooper
UNACCOMPANIED, A Classical Music Performance by Leo Eguchi
Boston-based cellist Leo Eguchi presents: UNACCOMPANIED, a performance featuring eight short new works for solo cello which explore personal stories of immigration and American assimilation. Each of the commissioned works is by immigrant and first-generation American composers tasked with tackling the question, “What does your American-ness sound like?”
Read more about the project’s development in our interview with Leo Eguchi.
Free | Suggested Donation $10
COVID-19 Policy:
All visitors are required to be masked during the duration of the performance. Performers may be unmasked while performing.
About the Artists
Headshot of Leo Eguchi, Photo Credit: Justine Cooper
Leo Eguchi, cello
Leo Eguchi has been described as “copiously skilled and confident” (New York Times) with performances that were "ravishing" (New Bedford Standard-Times) and "played with passion and vitality" (Boston Music Intellegencer).
A native of Michigan, Leo has performed extensively across North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. An active soloist and chamber musician who believes in the power of music for social change, he is the co-founder and co-artistic director of both the Willamette Valley Chamber Music Festival and Sheffield Chamber Players, and performs with Shelter Music Boston, which delivers classical music to homeless shelters and substance misuse recovery centers. Leo is the principal cellist of the New Bedford Symphony, a member of Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, New Hampshire Music Festival and the Portland Symphony Orchestras; and appears frequently with the Boston Pops.
A strong advocate of new music, Leo has worked closely with, and premiered dozens of solo and chamber works by many of today’s most important composers, including Jessie Montgomery, Gabriela Lena Frank, Osvaldo Golijov, Reena Esmail, William Bolcom, Bright Sheng, George Crumb, Lukas Foss, Joan Tower, Ken Ueno, Yehudi Wyner, and Daniel Bernard Roumain.
Recent performing highlights include being a prize winner at the 2021 ProCello International Cello Competition, having several GRAMMY nominated recording releases from Parma recordings, multiple concerto appearances, an artist residency and solo performances in Kabul, Afghanistan, and opportunities to share the non-classical stage with the likes of Pete Townshend, Queen Latifah, Melissa Etheridge, Demi Lovato, Brian Wilson, Kelly Clarkson, Peter Gabriel, Billy Idol, Jennifer Hudson, Nick Jonas, Josh Groban, and Audra McDonald, to name a few.
Leo is on the music faculty of Boston College, and is the Assistant Conductor of the MIT Symphony Orchestra. His degrees include a BM (Cello Performance) and BS (Physics) cum laude from the University of Michigan, and MM (Cello Performance) from Boston University, where he received the String Department Award for Excellence. Leo, along with violinist wife Sasha Callahan and cat-obsessed daughter Freya, live in Boston and spend their non-musical time appreciating the outdoors, food, and wine.
Self Portrait of James Díaz, Photo Credit: James Díaz
Called “stark, haunting elegance” with “intimate focus” by The Washington Post, the music of Colombian-born composer/sound maker James Díaz strives to create unique sonic textures, sound masses, and interactive environments. Deeply influenced by the concept of psychedelia, his music also draws from elements of graphic design, Latin-America landscapes, and photography. James is currently working on his studio album “[speaking in a foreign language]” with violinist Julia Suh.
Colombian composer/sound maker James Díaz, currently based in Philadelphia/New York, composes music that strives to create unique sonic textures, sound masses, and interactive environments. Deeply influenced by the concept of psychedelia, his music also draws from elements of architecture, Latin-America landscapes, graphic design, and photography. He was recently featured in The Washington Post‘s “22 for ’22: Composers and performers to watch this year."
Serving as the 2019 composer-in-residence for the Medellin Philharmonic, James premiered "RETRO", his concerto for orchestra and electronics.
James has won multiple international and national awards, such as the 2015 National Prize of Music in Composition from the Colombian Ministry of Culture for "Saturn Lights", his concerto for percussion trio and orchestra. His orchestral piece "Frack[in]g" was awarded the 2018 Bogotá Philharmonic Prize in Composition. Similarly, James has been a fellow at the Orchestra of St. Luke’s DeGaetano Institute, the American Composers Orchestra's Underwood Readings, the Nashville Symphony Composers Lab, the Loretto Project, the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music, and the International Winter Festival of Campos do Jordao.
His music has been performed by orchestras such as the WDR Sinfonieorchester, Basel Sinfonietta, National Symphony of Colombia, American Composers Orchestra, Medellin Philharmonic, Xalapa Symphony Orchestra, Nashville Symphony, Bogotá Philharmonic, Orchestra of St. Luke's, and EAFIT Symphony, and by ensembles such as Longleash, Yarn/Wire, Sō Percussion, Unheard-of//ensemble, Efferus Quartet, Apply Triangle, Quartet121, Camará Ensamble, ZOFO, and National Sawdust Ensemble.
Similarly, as collaboration with filmmaker/producer Leticia Akel Escárate, his film music has been presented at the SIFF Seattle International Film Festival ShortsFest, Palm Springs International ShortFest, Madrid FCM-PNR Festival, Cinemaissí Festival (Finland), and the Huesca, Quito, Sao Paulo, and Santiago international festivals.
James is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in composition at the University of Pennsylvania as a Benjamin Franklin fellow.
Head Shot of Milad Yousufi, Photo Credit: Virginia L. S. Friere
Milad Yousufi was born in 1995 during the civil war in Afghanistan. At that time the Taliban were ruling Afghanistan, and music was completely banned. At the age of two he started drawing. He drew the piano keys on paper and pretended to play.
Milad Yousufi is a pianist, composer, conductor, poet, singer, painter and calligrapher. Yousufi’s work is deeply inspired by his country and culture.
When the Taliban rule was lifted after a period of five years, the arts flourished in Afghanistan, and Yousufi took advantage of every opportunity to learn and study music and art. By the age of 12 he was teaching painting and was able to attend the one and only music school in Kabul. After only three years of formal piano training, Yousufi was one of four students accepted into a music program in Denmark; He was also chosen to represent Afghanistan at various music festivals in The Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, and Germany. He placed third in the International Golden Key competition in Frankfurt, Germany.
Upon his return to Afghanistan, Yousufi concentrated on teaching piano, theory, and a course of music notation program (Sibelius) at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music.
In 2011 The Afghan Youth Orchestra was formed. Yousufi was the pianist and then became the first Afghan conductor and arranged music for their performances.
In 2013 the Afghan Youth Orchestra made a U.S. tour playing sold-out concerts in Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and New England Conservatory where he performed as a pianist.
Upon moving to the United States, Yousufi was awarded a full scholarship to attend Mannes School of Music as an undergraduate and studied piano with the world-renowned pianist Simone Dinnerstein. Yousufi had the opportunity to study jazz piano and improvisation with Uri Caine, orchestration with Rudolph Palmer, music arrangement with Jacob Garchik and Matt Haimovitz and film music with Micheal Bacon from the Bacon Brothers.Yousufi has graduated from Mannes School of Music in spring 2020 and currently pursuing masters degree in composition under Dr. Dalit Warshaw's mentorship at Brooklyn College. Yousufi has had the opportunity to compose for The New York Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, premiered at Lincoln Center; Refugee Orchestra Project; Kronos Quartet, premiered in Carnegie Hall; Worcester Music, South High Community School Brass Band, Terezin Music Foundation, premiered in Boston Symphony Hall. Refugee Orchestra, premiered at the Barbican Center in London, Pianist Yael Weiss for 32 Bright Clouds: (Beethoven Conversation Around the World), Winsor Music, Trio Solisti, Burncoat High School Orchestra, Worcester Chamber Music Society, Upcoming commissions include The VISION Collective, Cellist Leo Eguchi, Choral piece for Old Ship Church, Musaics of the Bay and Raleigh Civic Symphony Orchestra. Milad Yousufi is on the directory board of Musaics of the Bay, The VISION Collective, and an ambassador for Arium TV. Yousufi is a faculty member at Brooklyn Conservatory of Music.
Yousufi has a dream to make a difference in the future of music and culture in Afghanistan.
Head Shot of Kenji Bunch, Photo Credit: Erica Lyn
Kenji Bunch is one of America’s most engaging, influential, and prolific composers. Through an expansive blend of classical and vernacular styles, Bunch makes music that’s “clearly modern but deeply respectful of tradition and instantly enjoyable.” (The Washington Post) Deemed “emotional Americana,” (Oregon ArtsWatch) and infused with folk and roots influences, Bunch’s work has inspired a new genre classification: “Call it neo-American: casual on the outside, complex underneath, immediate and accessible to first-time listeners… Bunch’s music is shiningly original.” (The Oregonian) Hailed by The New York Times as “A Composer To Watch” and cited by Alex Ross in his seminal book The Rest Is Noise, Bunch’s wit, lyricism, unpredictability, and exquisite craftsmanship earn acclaim from audiences, performers, and critics alike. His interests in history, philosophy, and intergenerational and cross-cultural sharing of the arts reflect in his work. Varied style references in Bunch's writing mirror the diversity of global influence on American culture and reveal his deft ability to integrate bluegrass, hip hop, jazz, and funk idioms. Rich, tonal harmonies and drawn-out, satisfying builds characterize Bunch’s work and easily lend themselves to dance and film. Over sixty American orchestras have performed Bunch’s music, which “reache(s) into every section of the orchestra to create an intriguing mixture of sonic colors.” (NW Reverb) As the inaugural Composer in Residence for the Moab Music Festival (2021), Bunch composed Lost Freedom: A Memory in collaboration with and starring actor George Takei as the narrator of his own writings, interwoven with chamber ensemble. Other recent works include commissions and premieres from the Seattle Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Lark Quartet, Britt Festival, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Music From Angel Fire, Chamber Music Northwest, Eugene Ballet, Third Angle New Music, Grant Park Music Festival, and 45th Parallel (2020 Composer in Residence). His extensive discography includes recordings on Sony/BMG, EMI Classics, Koch, RCA, and Naxos labels among others. Also an outstanding violist, Bunch was the first student ever to receive dual Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in viola and composition from The Juilliard School and was a founding member of the highly acclaimed ensembles Flux Quartet (1996-2002) and Ne(x)tworks (2003-2011). Bunch currently serves as Artistic Director of Fear No Music, directs MYSfits, the Metropolitan Youth Symphony’s conductorless string orchestra, and teaches viola, composition, and music theory at Portland State University, Reed College, and for the Portland Youth Philharmonic.
Self Portrait of José Luis Hurtado, Photo Credit: José Luis Hurtado
Winner of a 2020 John Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, Mexican born-American composer José-Luis Hurtado’s music has been performed across continents by ensembles and soloists such as the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, JACK Quartet, International Contemporary Ensemble ICE, Talea Ensemble, Earplay Ensemble, Juilliard Ensemble, New York Miniaturist Ensemble, Seattle Chamber Players, Iowa CNM Ensemble, Callithumpian Consort,The Ikarus Chamber Players, SEM Ensemble, Sigma Project Sax Quartet,The North/South Consonance Chamber Orchestra, Interensemble, Concorde Ensemble, Quinteto Latino, Ensamble 3, Ensamble Ónix,Versus 8 Percussion Quartet, Orquesta Uninorte, Orquesta Sinfónica de Guanajuato, Orquesta Sinfónica de San Luis Potosí, Camerata de las Amérícas, CEPROMUSIC Ensemble, Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir, Quatuor Molinari, Pierrot Lunaire Ensemble Wien, Stephen Drury, Émile Girard-Charest, Lora Kmieliauskaite,Tony Arnold, Garth Knox, Claire Chase, Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne and the Arditti String Quartet among others.
He has been the recipient of the Kompositionspreis der Stadt Wolkersdorf (Austria), the Harvard University Green Prize for Excellence in Composition (USA), the Rodolfo Halffter Ibero-American Composition Prize,The Adelbert W. Sprague Prize (USA),The George Arthur Knight Prize (USA), the Micro-Jornadas de Composición y Música Contemporánea Prize (Argentina), the Julián Carrillo Composition Prize (Mexico), El Premio Estatal de Composición del Festival Internacional de Música Contemporánea de Michoacán (Mexico), the José Tocavén Lavín Medal in recognition of his artistic trajectory, 2nd prize in the Troisieme Concours International de composition du Quatuor Molinari (Canada), 2nd prize in the Ariel Piano Composition Competition,Third Prize Winner of the National SCI/ASCAP Composition Competition, and finalist of The Earplay Composition Competition,The Look & Listen Festival Composition Competition and The Jeunesses International Composition Competition (Romania). Grants and Fellowships include those from the National Endowment for the Arts of Mexico, the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (USA), Ibermúsicas, the American Music Center, and the Civitella Ranieri Foundation (Italy). He has just been named member of the prestigious Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte grant in recognition of a distinguished artistic trajectory.The SNCA is a government supported program that converges the most renown artists of Mexico, including writers, visual artists, dancers, film makers, and composers.
He is currently working on commissions for bassonist Ben Roidl-Ward, bass clarinetist Gleb Kanasevich, saxophonist Philipp Stäudlin, CRAS Danish Guitar Ensemble, flutist Camilla Hoitenga, German percussionist Magdalena Meitzner, cellist Leo Eguchi, Spanish Vertixe Sonora Ensemble, and an interdisciplinary concertante piece for a child pianist, string orchestra, percussion, and fixed media supported by the John Guggenheim Foundation. Premieres and performances of his pieces during 2021, 2022, and 2023 are taking place in Lithuania, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, France, Mexico,Argentina, and the US.
His second CD portrait, which features NY based Talea Ensemble performing six of his most recent compositions for large ensemble of 16 members, will be released at the end of March of 2021 under the prestigious Kairos recording label. Many of his works can be heard on ATMA Clasique (Canada), New Focus Recordings (USA), Con Brio Records (USA) and Urtext (Mexico). His music is published and distributed by Babel Scores, a french publisher specialist in new music.
In addition to his compositional career, he is highly active as a pianist and music advocate. He is the pianist of Low Frequency Trio (Contemporary Bass clarinet, double bass, and piano ensemble), founding member of áltaVoz (Latin- American composers collaborative in the U.S), founder and curator of La Mansion de la Cantante Muda (an interdisciplinary festival of contemporary music, film, and storytelling at the Leonora Carrington Museum in Mexico), and former director of The Harvard Group for New Music.
Hurtado holds degrees in piano performance and composition from Conservatorio de las Rosas (Morelia, Mexico), a Master of Music in Composition from Universidad Veracruzana (Xalapa, Mexico) and a Ph.D. from Harvard University where he studied under Mario Davidovsky, Chaya Czernowin, Magnus Lindberg, Brian Ferneyhough and Helmut Lachenmann.
Hurtado is currently Associate Professor of Theory and Composition at the University of New Mexico where he also founded, directs and curates the Music from the Americas Concert Series.
Head Shot of Shaw Pong Liu, Photo Credit: Robert Torres
Violinist and composer Shaw Pong Liu engages diverse communities through multidisciplinary collaborations, creative music and social dialogue. Her project Code Listen, which she started as City of Boston Artist-in-Residence in 2016, uses songwriting and performances to support healing and dialogue around violence, racism, and police practices, in collaboration with the Boston Police Department, teen artists, family members surviving homicide and local musicians.
Ongoing projects include the song-sharing project Sing Home which she leads as Artist-in-Residence at the Pao Arts Center in Boston’s Chinatown, and composing music for Conference of the Birds, an international multimedia collaboration with choreographer Wendy Jehlen's Anikaya Dance Theatre and dancers from 8 countries.
Previous projects include Sunbar, connecting Bostonians with sunlight, warmth, and each other during cold winter months, with the vision of a future mobile solarium; What Artists Knead, a series of breadmaking parties across five neighborhoods in Boston for artists to bake bread and discuss their ideas for Boston's creative future; Water Graffiti for Peace, a series of outdoor Chinese water calligraphy sessions inviting public play and conversations about peace; A Bird a Day, exploring birdsong, sunrises and composition (resulting in a site-specific composition for 18 solo string players in three tiers of balconies); and Soldiers’ Tales Untold, a musical-narrative production mixing veterans’ stories, live music, and audience dialogue about war. In addition to violin, she also performs as a vocalist, erhu (Chinese violin) player, and even performed as an aerialist (aerial silks with Whistler in the Dark theatre company’s production of “Tales From Ovid”).
Shaw Pong is is a founding member of Play for Justice, a network of musicians and artists in Boston supporting social justice causes. Her compositions have been commissioned by Silkroad Ensemble for the Freer-Sackler Museum, Anikaya Dance Theatre, A Far Cry, Lorelei Ensemble, and pianist Sarah Bob. As a violinist she performs with groups including Silk Road Ensemble, MIT’s Gamelan GalakTika, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Ludovico Ensemble, and Castle of Our Skins. She has worked as a teaching artist with Yo-Yo Ma's Youth Music Culture Guangzhou, the New England Conservatory of Music, the Urbano Project, Celebrity Series, Cantata Singers, Young Audiences, and is a founding faculty at the Cuerdas Oaxaca strings chamber music festival in Mexico.
A graduate of U.C. Berkeley with a Masters in Violin Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music, Shaw Pong was an Expressing Boston Public Art Fellow in 2014-15; artist-ethnographer for Boston's cultural planning initiative, Boston Creates in 2015; one of three Artist-in-Residence for the City of Boston's first Artist-in-Residence program in 2016; and 2017-18 Artist-in-Residence at the Pao Arts Center in Boston Chinatown. She is a 2018-19 Kennedy Center Citizen Artist Fellow.
Head Shot of Earl Maneein, Photo Credit: Max R. Sequeira
Earl Maneein was born and raised in Queens, NY. He began studying classical violin at age four. Later, he discovered extreme music in October of 1989 at an all ages show in the basement of Our Lady of Lourdes in Queens Village. There he saw the hardcore band No Redeeming Social Value and was accidentally punched in the face by a “SHARP” skinhead in the mosh pit. He has never been the same since.
He received a Bachelor of Music Degree from Queens College and a Master of Music Degree from the Mannes College of Music in New York City, where he studied with Daniel Phillips of the Orion String Quartet.
Earl has made a career for himself by wearing different hats. As a composer, he has received commissions from Rachel Barton Pine (international concert violinist), Tito Muñoz (music director of the Phoenix Symphony), Masumi Rostad (violist of the Pacifica String Quartet), The Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, The Dance Theater of Harlem, The Francesca Harper Dance Company, and Zentripetal Duo.
Earl also regularly composes for his two projects, the experimental grindcore-improvisatory-jazz-metal duo Black Heart Sutra, and his new music/hardcore crossover string quartet SEVEN)SUNS, whose first full length album, "For The Hearts Still Beating", was released on Party Smasher Inc. in June 2017.
Earl’s violin concerto "Dependent Arising" received its World Premiere by Rachel Barton Pine with Tito Muñoz conducting the Phoenix Symphony in April of 2017. It is scheduled for more performances for the 2018-19 season with the Orchestre Symphonique Bretagne in Rennes, France and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA.
Praised by Metallica’s Robert Trujillo as a “kick ass player who pushes the creative boundaries”, Earl’s expertise in extreme music is much sought after by musicians in the hardcore/metal community and beyond. Among the artists Earl has collaborated with as a metal and hardcore specialist are Janet Biggs (visual artist), Blake Fleming (original drummer of The Mars Volta), Jessica Pimentel (Orange is the New Black, Alekhine’s Gun), the bands Blood Has Been Shed, So Hideous, and The Dillinger Escape Plan. Earl and his string quartet SEVEN)SUNS were featured prominently on The Dillinger Escape Plan’s final album, “Dissociation”, released at the end of 2016.
As a freelance violinist and violist Earl is comfortable and skilled in varied styles including but not limited to classical, bluegrass, orthodox Jewish music, jazz and rock.
Earl tours as a featured player of Vitamin String Quartet.
He has recorded and played with such varied artists and groups as Albert Hammond Jr. of the Strokes, Aretha Franklin, Alicia Keys, Avraham Fried, Florence+The Machine, Jay-Z, Mordechai Ben David, Paul Weller of The Jam, Rhianna, The Roots, and Sean Lennon, among others.
Earl has played on countless commercial recording works including: the 2010 Monster.com Superbowl ad; incidental music for the Nickelodeon show Team Umizoomi; and “Rising Sun”, the theme song for the WWE wrestler Shinsuke Nakamura.
Earl lives in Brooklyn, New York with his wife (and SEVEN)SUNS cellist), Jennifer and their daughter.
Head Shot of Kareem Roustom, Photo Credit: John Robson
Syrian-American Kareem Roustom is an Emmy-nominated composer whose genre crossing collaborations include music commissioned by conductor Daniel Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, the Kronos Quartet, arrangements for pop icons Shakira and Tina Turner, as well as a recent collaboration with acclaimed British choreographer Shobana Jeyasingh. Roustom has been composer-in-residence at the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago, the Grand Teton Music Festival in Wyoming, and with the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen in Germany. For the 2021-2022 season Roustom will be composer-in-residence with the Mannheim Philharmonic.
Roustom’s music has been performed by ensembles that include the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Boulez Ensemble, the Deutsch Oper Berlin, The Crossing choir, Lorelei Ensemble, A Far Cry, and at renowned festivals and halls such as the BBC Proms, the Salzburg Festival, the Lucerne Festival, Carnegie Hall, the Verbier Festival, the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin, the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, and others.
Roustom has received commissions from the Malmö Symphony Orchestra (Sweden), the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Düsseldorfer Symphonkier, the Grand Teton Music Festival, the Grant Park Music Festival, the Daniel Barenboim Stiftung, the Pierre Boulez Saal, Shobana Jeyasingh Dance, the Royal Philharmonic Society & Sadler’s Wells Theatre (London), A Far Cry & Lorelei Ensemble and others. Roustom’s music has also been recorded by the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester (Berlin), and the Philharmonia Orchestra (London). Upcoming performances of Roustom’s music during the 2021 – 2022 season include the Mannheim Philharmonic, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Oregon Symphony, the Toledo Symphony, and at the Grange Festival in Hampshire, England. The Chicago Tribune wrote that Roustom is “a gifted and accomplished artist, one of the most prominent active Arab-American composers,” BBC Radio3 described Roustom’s music as “among the most distinctive to have emerged from the Middle East”, and The New York Times described it as “propulsive, colorful and immediately appealing.” The Guardian (London) wrote that Roustom’s music is “arrestingly quirky and postmodern…music with lots of personality.” Roustom holds the position of Professor of the Practice at Tufts University’s Department of Music in Boston. More details available at www.kr-music.com.
Head Shot of Frank Duarte, Photo Credit: Wes Kreisel
Frank Duarte (b. 1992) is an American composer, songwriter, conductor, writer, and poet. His music, inspired by his upbringings, transcends conventional boundaries creating a programmatic approach full of luxuriant emotion, perception of color, and a palette of sonorities that make it organic and innate. Recipient of two Global Music Awards, Duarte has been granted two ASCAP Plus Awards and has had works performed throughout the United States (Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, North Carolina, Oregon, Indiana, Michigan, Utah, Virginia), Japan (Kyoto, Seto, Nagoya), Greece, and the Republic of Colombia by professionals and secondary, collegiate, and community ensembles.
His music has been featured throughout universities including in seminars and conferences at Ball State University, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and Universidad of Cauca, and recitals and concerts at California State University, Northridge, Eastern Connecticut State University, Fullerton College, Henderson State University, Michigan State University, Mills College, Snow College, Texas Tech University, and the University of North Texas among others. His music has also been featured by Composers Circle and the online radio station Kinetics Radio. The Green Band Association, an organization that sponsors Japanese bands to participate in the Tournament of Roses Parade, programmed his works three times in 2012, 2014, and 2017 for their charitable benefit concerts. His compositions have also been featured in books, journals, and academic papers.
Born in Southern California, Duarte was primarily raised by his Indigenous Mexican (Zapotec) maternal family in Santa Ana, California, located within Metropolitan Los Angeles. Duarte earned Associate of Arts degrees in Music and History and degrees in Interdisciplinary Studies, emphasizing in Science and Mathematics, Arts and Human Expression, and Social Sciences from Fullerton College. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Composition from California State University, Northridge, and a Master of Music Degree in Composition from Butler University. Duarte attended Texas Tech University and was a doctoral student in composition. He is currently a Doctor of Musical Arts student in Composition at Michigan State University as an awardee of a Michigan State University Fellowship.
His previous mentors and teachers have included Anthony Mazzaferro, Michael Colburn (Conducting), and Liviu Marinescu, Milen Kirov, Michael Schelle, James Mulholland, and Jennifer Jolley (Composition). He previously served as an Instructor of Record, teaching composition at Texas Tech University. His works are published or distributed through Murphy Music Press, Tolliver Music Company, and ADJ•ective New Music. Duarte is a member of ADJ•ective New Music Composers' Collective and Landscape Music, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and an alumnus of Beta Theta Pi.